(AME Info (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Dec. 20--MENA BUSINESS SERVICES SELLS MAJORITY STAKE IN BPO ARM: Dubai-based Mena Business Services has sold a majority stake in its Saudi business process outsourcing (BPO) arm to UK-headquartered Serco. Based in Al Khobar, the Saudi unit provides IT and outsourcing services to Saudi Aramco. According to Datamonitor, the Middle East BPO market is estimated at $2.85bn and growing at about 17 percent.The UAE and the Saudi Arabia are the two largest BPO markets in the Middle East region and together represent three-quarters of the market.

STC NAMED TOP SOCIAL MEDIA TELCO IN ARAB WORLD: With more than 7.1 million YouTube views, 745,000 Facebook Likes and 352,000 Twitter followers, Saudi Arabia's national telecoms company has fully embraced the 'big three' platforms and is seen to be successfully leveraging social media to boost its brand in the kingdom. STC's Facebook and Twitter pages are navigated by over 1,000 customers a day, according to analysis by Socialbakers, who published a report on corporate performance in social media networks from December 2011 to June 2012. The study revealed that STC's Facebook page ranked 40th globally in terms of the level of interaction with its fans, ahead of another Saudi telco by 22 places, with their Twitter page reaching third place globally.

APPLE'S REQUEST FOR BAN ON SAMSUNG PRODUCTS REJECTED: US Judge Lucy Koh has refused Apple's request for a ban on infringing Samsung products, Cnet has reported. The ruling stems from an August verdict that found Samsung guilty of infringing on Apple patents with a number of its tablets and smartphones, resulting in a $1.05bn judgment for Apple. Judge Koh found that Apple had not adequately demonstrated that it would suffer irreparable harm if 26 Samsung devices were not pulled from the market. Samsung is appealing the case, but Apple went ahead and asked that the court issue an injunction against the infringing products.